Cal State Long Beach officials have launched an investigation into the conduct of a health-sciences education lecturer after a student this week posted a final-exam question to Twitter that he said was racist.

Alex Rambo, 31, is currently taking a health science class meant for those who want to be middle and high school teachers. The class is taught by Matt Fischer, a lecturer at the university and a teacher at Los Angeles Unified School District.

The final for that class is a 75-question take-home exam, due Thursday, Dec. 13.

On Monday night, Dec. 10, Rambo posted a photo of question No. 50 from the exam. The question read:

The questions preceding and succeeding that one dealt with various diseases, according to the photo.

“I don’t remember going over anything about gangs in class,” Rambo, who is African American, said by phone Tuesday night. “The question was pretty offensive.”

When reached via email, Fischer on Tuesday confirmed that question was in the exam, but then wondered why one of his students would post part of the test on Twitter.

“This is a ‘take-home final exam’ that is designed to encourage my students to investigate the best possible answer to each question,” Fischer said.

Fischer, who is white, has taught at Cal State Long Beach and L.A. Unified for nearly three decades, according to his LinkedIn page. His profile says he has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s of public health — though it doesn’t say from where. But, according to his Facebook page, Fischer received a teaching credential from Cal State Long Beach in 1982. He lives in Garden Grove, according to the profile.

On Wednesday afternoon, Fischer replied to follow-up questions by saying he was “amazed” by Rambo’s tweet.

“Wasn’t meant to be racist in the least,” he said. “I’m sorry they were so offended by it.”

But Rambo said the class never even discussed graffiti, and several of his classmates were also confused by why the exam included such a question. Some planned on reporting Fischer to higher-ups. Those students could not immediately be reached.

But Rambo said he felt Fischer was targeting minorities.

“I was angry,” he said.

University spokesman Jeff Bliss on Wednesday said Cal State Long Beach “takes these allegations seriously,” adding officials will provide more information once there is a resolution.”

Also on Wednesday, Monica Lounsbery, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, said she told the chairman of the health sciences department to initiate an investigation.

“The college takes situations like this very seriously as we are deeply committed to creating learning environments in which all students thrive and succeed,” Lounsbery said. “Once we have completed the investigation, we will evaluate all of the information and determine an appropriate course of action.”

Lounsbery added that she was unaware of the question until a media request landed on her desk.

Fischer, for his part, said, “I guess I’ll change that question.

“Sad that they didn’t talk to me first.”

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Emily covers education and development for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. A native of Long Beach, Emily is an alumna of the Cal State Long Beach Journalism Department. Prior to joining the Press-Telegram, Emily was city editor of The Capistrano Dispatch in San Juan Capistrano, a contributing writer for the Orange County Register and the news editor for The Edge in Long Beach.

Chris Haire is the senior reporter for the Press-Telegram. He previously was a general assignment reporter for the Orange County Register, covering everything from spot news to human-interest features. He has been with the Register and Southern California News Group since December 2012. He graduated with honors from the Columbia University School of Journalism, with a master's degree. Chris also has a bachelor's degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and would like, one day, to get a doctorate in history. (He's kind of nerdy.) He also loves Russian literature, including Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin and Solzhenitsyn.